Excitations in photonic crystals infiltrated with polarizable media

Journal ArticleLight propagation in a photonic crystal with incomplete band gap, infiltrated with polarizable molecules is considered. We demonstrate that the interplay between the spatial dispersion caused by Bragg diffraction and polaritonic frequency dispersion gives rise to alternative propagating excitations, or photonic-crystal-polaritons (PCP), with intragap frequencies. We derive the PCP dispersion relation and show that it is governed by two parameters, namely, the strength of light-matter interaction and detuning between the Bragg frequency and that of the infiltrated molecules. We also study defect-induced states when the photonic band gap is divided into two subgaps by the PCP branches and find that each defect creates two intragap localized states inside each subgap

Coherent umklapp scattering of light from disordered photonic crystals

Journal ArticleA theoretical study of the coherent light scattering from disordered photonic crystals is presented. In addition to the conventional enhancement of the reflected light intensity into the backscattering direction, the so-called coherent backscattering (CBS), the periodic modulation of the dielectric function in photonic crystals gives rise to a qualitatively new effect: enhancement of the reflected light intensity in directions different from the backscattering direction. These additional coherent scattering processes, dubbed here umklapp scattering (CUS), result in peaks, which are most pronounced when the incident light beam enters the sample at an angle close to the the Bragg angle. Assuming that the dielectric function modulation is weak, we study the shape of the CUS peaks for different relative lengths of the modulation-induced Bragg attenuation compared to the disorder-induced mean free path. We show that when the Bragg length increases, then the CBS peak assumes its conventional shape, whereas the CUS peak rapidly diminishes in amplitude. We also study the suppression of the CUS peak upon the departure of the incident beam from the Bragg resonance: we found that the diminishing of the CUS intensity is accompanied by substantial broadening. In addition, the peak becomes asymmetric

Evidence for Braggoriton Excitations in Opal Photonic Crystals Infiltrated with Highly Polarizable Dyes

We studied angle-dependent reflectivity spectra of opal photonic crystals infiltrated with cyanine dyes, which are highly polarizable media with very large Rabi frequency. We show that when resonance conditions between the exciton-polariton of the infiltrated dye and Bragg frequencies exist, then the Bragg stop band decomposes into two reflectivity bands with a semi-transparent spectral range in between that is due to light propagation inside the gap caused by the existence of braggoriton excitations. These novel excitations result from the interplay interaction between the Bragg gap with spatial modulation origin and the polariton gap due to the excitons, and may lead to optical communication traffic inside the gap of photonic crystals via channel waveguiding.Comment: LaTex, 5 pages, 3 figures include

Charged mobile complexes in magnetic fields: A novel selection rule for magneto-optical transitions

The implications of magnetic translations for internal optical transitions of charged mobile electron-hole ($e$--$h$) complexes and ions in a uniform magnetic field $B$ are discussed. It is shown that transitions of such complexes are governed by a novel exact selection rule. Internal intraband transitions of two-dimensional (2D) charged excitons $X^-$ in strong magnetic fields are considered as an illustrative example.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figure

Internal Transitions of Two-Dimensional Charged Magneto-Excitons X-: Theory and Experiment

Internal spin-singlet and spin-triplet transitions of charged excitons X- in magnetic fields in quantum wells have been studied experimentally and theoretically. The allowed X- transitions are photoionizing and exhibit a characteristic double-peak structure, which reflects the rich structure of the magnetoexciton continua in higher Landau levels (LL's). We discuss a novel exact selection rule, a hidden manifestation of translational invariance, that governs transitions of charged mobile complexes in a magnetic field.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures, submitted to Physica

Coherent Umklapp Scattering of Light from Disordered Photonic Crystals

A theoretical study of the coherent light scattering from disordered photonic crystal is presented. In addition to the conventional enhancement of the reflected light intensity into the backscattering direction, the so called coherent backscattering (CBS), the periodic modulation of the dielectric function in photonic crystals gives rise to a qualitatively new effect: enhancement of the reflected light intensity in directions different from the backscattering direction. These additional coherent scattering processes, dubbed here {\em umklapp scattering} (CUS), result in peaks, which are most pronounced when the incident light beam enters the sample at an angle close to the the Bragg angle. Assuming that the dielectric function modulation is weak, we study the shape of the CUS peaks for different relative lengths of the modulation-induced Bragg attenuation compared to disorder-induced mean free path. We show that when the Bragg length increases, then the CBS peak assumes its conventional shape, whereas the CUS peak rapidly diminishes in amplitude. We also study the suppression of the CUS peak upon the departure of the incident beam from Bragg resonance: we found that the diminishing of the CUS intensity is accompanied by substantial broadening. In addition, the peak becomes asymmetric.Comment: LaTeX, 8 two-column pages, 6 figures include

Braggoriton--Excitation in Photonic Crystal Infiltrated with Polarizable Medium

Light propagation in a photonic crystal infiltrated with polarizable molecules is considered. We demonstrate that the interplay between the spatial dispersion caused by Bragg diffraction and polaritonic frequency dispersion gives rise to novel propagating excitations, or braggoritons, with intragap frequencies. We derive the braggoriton dispersion relation and show that it is governed by two parameters, namely, the strength of light-matter interaction and detuning between the Bragg frequency and that of the infiltrated molecules. We also study defect-induced states when the photonic band gap is divided into two subgaps by the braggoritonic branches and find that each defect creates two intragap localized states inside each subgap.Comment: LaTeX, 8 pages, 5 figure